Douglas Murray wins defamation case against Observer

Today brings the news that the flailing Guardian Media Group has had to pay out ‘substantial damages’ to The Spectator’s Douglas Murray – after the Observer was found to have defamed him. In a court statement, lawyers for the paper said it ‘apologises unreservedly’ for the ‘false’ allegations it made about Murray in a piece about last summer’s riots. Oh dear…

Last August, the Sunday newspaper published an article by journalist Kenan Malik on the summer riots, titled: ‘The roots of this unrest lie in the warping of genuine working class grievances.’ In his piece, Malik alluded to an interview between Murray and the ex-deputy prime minister of Australia John Anderson – in which the pair discussed Israel, Islam and immigration. In a move Mr S can imagine the Observer journalist now rather regrets, Malik linked Murray’s claim that ‘the British soul is awakening and stirring with rage at what these people are doing’ to the 2024 riots, stating ‘these people’ was a reference to the migrants targeted during that time and accusing Murray of supporting these attacks.